Mall Duty 2
by Kishiro Kitsune
Summary: AU. A year has passed since the summer everyone worked at the mall, but now they're back for round two. As relationships grow stronger and others fall apart, they learn that not all summers are fun. shonen ai
1. A New Summer Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. Period. End of story.

Summary: AU. A year has passed since the summer everyone worked at the mall, but now they're back for round two. As relationships grow stronger and others fall apart, they learn that not all summers are fun.

Pairings (the stable ones): RoxasAxel, RufusNamine, YuffieKairi, ZexionDemyx

* * *

**Mall Duty 2**

1. A New Summer

Part 1

_Sora slammed the car door shut, his eyes burning an intense blue. "I don't want to talk to you," he snarled at the silver-haired man standing behind him. "I don't want to look at you, so shut up and leave me the __**fuck **__alone."_

_Roxas stepped out of the drivers side, directing a glare almost identical to his twin's at the silver-haired man as he walked around the car. "You heard him. Beat it, __**asshole.**__"_

_Riku started forward, opening his mouth, but was quickly backhanded by Sora before the brunet stomped away. His eyes widened in surprise as he stared after his ex-boyfriend, completely ignoring the blond still standing there with narrowed eyes._

"_I don't know what you did to him," Roxas said. "But whatever it is, I won't ever forgive you for it. I don't fucking care if Sora does eventually forgive you, I will not."_

"_You don't even know what's going on, so back off," Riku said. "This is none of your business."_

_Roxas grabbed the front of Riku's shirt and slammed him back against his car. "Shut up," he hissed. "Don't tell me that it's none of my business when it's my __**twin brother **__who you have hurt. I am going to make it my business whether you like it or not, so get over it." He quickly released Riku's shirt as if he'd been burned and then hurried after Sora._

'Fuck. I am _so_ screwed,' _Riku thought._

_

* * *

  
_

"Hey there, handsome," Roxas purred, leaning against the counter at Spencers.

Axel quickly straightened up, slamming his head into some merchandise hanging over him. He let out a single curse as he turned to face Roxas.

"I'll kiss it better if you'd like," Roxas said.

Axel grinned, leaning down to rest his arms on the counter so his face was right in front of Roxas's, their noses barely touching. "Would you?" he asked deviously. "I might have to take you up on that."

As Roxas tilted his head up to kiss Axel on the lips, a box slammed down on the counter between them. The two blinked and pulled back to stare at Sora, who was so pissed off that he was actually glaring at them.

"Problem?" Roxas asked.

Sora's glare increased in intensity. "_Yes_. Axel has work to do so get back over to your own damn store, Roxas," he hissed.

Roxas stood up straight, narrowing his eyes at Sora. "Hey, we're both on break right now. You can get Larxene to do whatever the hell you need done. The way you're acting right now, she'll probably listen to you," he said. Then he grabbed Axel's hand and pulled him over the counter, defiantly kissing him right then and there before pulling him out of the store, leaving behind a fuming Sora.

"Larxene!" the enraged brunet shouted, pivoting on his heel to glare at the blonde nymph who was trying to convince a customer to buy a giant universal remote.

"Just a minute," she said in a saccharine sweet tone.

"_Now," _Sora growled.

Larxene fell silent and stared at Sora in something akin to shock and then slowly set the large remote down and sauntered over to the brunet. Sora quickly set her to task with unloading boxes and running (or rather, walking as slowly as possible just to piss him off) all over the store to do things while he stood there behind the counter and glared at every couple who dared walk into the store.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Rikku said as she hopped up onto the counter at Hot Topic. "Or un-straight, if you prefer." (Riku rolled his eyes at the horrible pun.) "Sora is fighting with you and because of that you have to stay away from Roxas because he'll beat you up. And you can't go out the front of the store because Sora will be there to glare at you and you hate that. _And _you can't even go to Moogle Garden anymore because Sora still goes there everyday for lunch and your lunch breaks are _still _at the same time because the two of you are too damn stubborn to change it and show weakness to the other. Am I right?"

Riku nodded miserably.

Rikku raised an eyebrow as she crossed one leg over the other. "You know what I think? I think that both of you are idiots. But hey, maybe that's just me."

"Aren't you suppose to be, you know, _helping _me?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Rikku said, waving her hand. "Alright. First of all, by not going out the front you're showing weakness to Sora. Y'gotta at least show that you have some balls! Second of all, stand up to Roxas. Don't let him bully you so much. You're bigger than him! I don't get why you're so afraid of him. Third of all, either change your damn lunch break or find someplace else to eat at. I hear that the new place, Kung Pow Wutai, is pretty good. Even though the name is _really _weird."

"But I've always eaten at Moogle Garden," Riku protested.

"Then it's time for a change!" Rikku exclaimed before hopping down from the counter. "Be a man, Riku! Don't make me play that one Disney song!"

Riku winced. He _never _wanted to hear that song again. It was bad enough that Rikku enjoyed randomly tugging him into the Land of Dragon's branch of the Disney store whenever they were leaving for the day. And if she started playing it in the store, they would never get any customers. They got so few as it was!

Rikku hummed the song as she bounded away into the depths of the small store, probably to torment some unsuspecting customer and talk him or her into buying something.

Riku sighed and slumped against the counter. It was going to be another long day.

* * *

Aerith sighed. It was only two days into the summer and already she felt like screaming in frustration. For once, her frustration wasn't due to misfiled paperwork or people trying to return games from years and years ago. And for once, Yuffie wasn't at the route of all her problems. No, instead it was her two workers.

Hesitantly, she opened her office door and peered out into the store. There was Genesis, older brother of Yuffie's girlfriend, Kairi. Once again he was reading something and pretending like the rest of the world didn't exist. Against the opposite wall playing Brawl with someone was Sephiroth.

For a moment, Aerith felt relieved. Then she took a closer look at who Sephiroth was playing the game with and felt a shudder run down her spine. It was one of his cousins, either Kadaj or Yazoo. She hoped it was the former. Kadaj could at least control his temper, much like Sephiroth.

"Aerith, I know you are there," Genesis said smoothly. "Are you done hiding away in your office now?"

Aerith walked out of her office with her head held high. There was no way she was going to show weakness to Genesis of all people. "Reading LOVELESS again, I see," she remarked. "Which act?"

Genesis smirked and began reading, _"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess. We seek it thus, and take to the sky."_

"Act One," Aerith said.

"You remembered," Genesis replied.

"You read it everyday," Aerith said. "And you are rather fond of quoting it outloud. I'm sure most of our regular customers have it memorized as well. Although it is rather curious…"

Genesis shifted a little, moving the book so Aerith couldn't see the pages. "Oh?"

"You're always on Act One," Aerith said. "It makes me wonder if you've only memorized those lines and are secretly reading something else. But I guess that's just my imagination."

"Yes, I believe so."

Thinking the conversation was over, Genesis gave his undivided attention to his book. So he was a little startled when Aerith held out a hand for the book.

"May I?" she asked sweetly.

Genesis hesitated. In that split second of hesitation, Aerith reached out and easily plucked the book from his hands, eliciting a cry of alarm from the redhead. Green eyes fell on the pages of the book and the pretty brunette had to stifle her giggles at what she saw.

"Since when do you read manga?" she asked. "And Loveless, of all things,"

"Shut up!" Genesis hissed, snatching back his book. "So what if I do?"

Aerith laughed quietly. "Isn't that one of Kairi's?" she asked, ignoring his question.

A light shade of pink spread across Genesis's cheeks as he looked away. "Hn," he muttered.

Aerith contained her giggling as she handed the book back to him. "Don't worry," she told him as she turned away. She paused by the door to her office and turned her head back to wink at him as she said, "I won't tell."

Genesis growled as he was subjected to her airy laugh once again. Oh how he hated that laugh. It wasn't condescending or malicious, quite the opposite really. It was sweet and gentle and so… her. Genesis hated it.

* * *

"For the last time, Zack!" Reeve exclaimed in exasperation as he ran out front to stop his newest employee for the third time that morning. "Stripping to entertain our customers is _not _part of the job description!"

Zack reluctantly pulled his shirt back down over his head. "I think they disagree. Besides, what's wrong with trying to liven up the place and entertain everyone? I think they rather enjoy the view."

Reeve looked around at the squealing fangirls (and a few fanboys) and almost winced in fear. He had had his own share of experiences with the rabid variety of fans and had become quite adept at getting them to go away without too much disaster raining down on him. "That's not the point! This is a _restaurant!_ We have health and safety codes!"

Zack pouted as he put his moogle hat back on. "You're no fun, Ree."

Reeve twitched. "It's _Reeve._"

Zack shrugged as he tied his apron back on. "Whatever you say, Ree."

"_It's __**REEVE!**_"

"Hello, _Reeve,_" a sultry voice purred.

Reeve flinched. He knew that voice. He also knew what that tone meant. Slowly, he turned his hair to peer at the blond leaning against the counter looking up at him through lidded blue eyes. "C-Cloud," he stammered.

"That is my name," Cloud said, sliding himself up onto the counter. "I'm so happy you remember it."

Reeve began to back away from the eccentric blond. "Now, Cloud, you and I both know that you don't really want to do this. Why don't you go on back to Abercrombie and attach yourself to Squall like you are so fond of doing."

Cloud swung his legs over the counter, resting them lightly on the ground on the other side. "Why have Squall when I can have you?"

Reeve took another step back. "B-because…"

"Because why?" Cloud challenged, standing up.

"Just because!"

"That's not a good enough reason."

Reeve cast around for someone who would help him. The first person he saw was Selphie, who had her tray raised up to cover the lower half of her face. Knowing that she was trying to hide the fact that she was laughing, Reeve continued looking around. Then his eyes landed on Zack.

"Zack! Help!"

"Sorry, Reeve," Zack apologized, not sounding very sorry. "It's the Strife Family Curse. Nothing I can do about that. Besides, you might as well go and get it over with otherwise he'll be all the more determined to get at you."

"Zack! You're suppose to _help _your employer!" Reeve all but shrieked as Cloud began advancing on him.

Zack cupped a hand around his ear. "Sorry? What was that? 'Go do your job, Zack'? Okay!" Humming, he bounced off to clean tables.

"ZACK!"

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

What's this? Could it be? YES! It's the first chapter of Mall Duty 2! Which means that my muses have returned and the ideas are running rampant in my mind. I figured I'd get a few of the stores this chapter and then do the others in the next chapter. And I know I'm going to regret trying to write this at school... I was sitting at a table at my college today working on the Moogle Garden scene and had to stop myself from laughing when I decided to bring Cloud in. And for Reeve's opening line. I tell you what, I feel bad for the people around me when I write. I'm sure I make all sorts of funny faces that reflect what I'm writing...

And the weirdest scene to write? The Hot Topic scene with Rikku and Riku. Yeah. _I _wrote it and it still makes my brain go, "What the hell?"


	2. A New Summer Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy.

* * *

**Mall Duty 2**

2. A New Summer

Part 2

When Irvine's father first told him he had to get a job that summer, he thought, "Okay. That's not such a big deal." However, when he found out that the only place hiring was the small Dip 'n Dots stand in the middle of the food court, he was less than pleased. That was _not _his idea of a good summer job. There was only one reason he accepted the job and that was the fact that he'd get to work with two pretty girls. (Not to mention his dad threatened to kick him out _and _take away his phone.)

Unfortunately, one of said pretty girls was very obviously a lesbian and the other held an intense dislike for him, as he very quickly discovered.

And that was how Irvine ended up with, in his opinion, the crummiest summer job _ever._

* * *

Not much had changed in the cramped, smelly store since the summer before. There were still bottles everywhere and Marluxia was still prancing around trying to make people try on different scents. In fact, the only thing that was different was that Larxene didn't work there anymore. Instead, she had switched places with an eye-patch wearing guy named Xigbar, who used to work on a different shift over at Spencer's.

Zexion sighed heavily, almost choking on the air. Marluxia had pranced past him just moments before and had spritzed something flowery in the air near him. He coughed, raising his blue-gray eyes to glare at his pink-haired friend.

Marluxia waggled his fingers back at him before he went back to his usual routine of restocking the already crowded shelves. It was almost as if his personal goal was to fit as many of the bottles on the shelves as physically possible.

"Hey dude," Xigbar said, popping up out of nowhere. "When's my lunch break again?"

Zexion sighed once again. It was the fifth time Xigbar had asked him that question and he was starting to wonder if the man was on drugs. "When I get back from my break," he said, "which is usually around one. Then you have a half hour to eat before Marluxia's lunch break."

"Okay, cool," Xigbar said. "So, uh, when's his lunch break again?"

'_I miss Larxene…' _Zexion found himself thinking. "One-thirty," he said.

"Okay, but what if I don't get back until one-thirty-one?" Xigbar asked.

"I suggest that you don't," Zexion said coldly. "You don't want to see what happens when Marluxia has to go to lunch late. And Xemnas prefers to have things run on schedule. If you are even a second late, he'll be out here to stand over you and make sure you do your job for the rest of the day."

"Dude, that sucks," Xigbar said. He looked around for a second and then leaned on the desk. "So when's my lunch again?"

Zexion's carefully controlled temper snapped and he slammed his hands down on the counter. "At one _fucking _o'clock!" he snarled angrily. "And if you can't keep that easy little time memorized in your head, I will gladly _beat it into you!"_

Xigbar blinked at him in surprise and then grinned and then, to Zexion's mortification, patted him on the head. "You're a funny little dude," the eye patch-wearing man said. "Later."

Zexion watched, aghast, as the man walked away while humming a little tune. He was probably going to talk to Marluxia. He swore that the two were trying to make him go insane and for no other reason than that they were _bored_. And he was not being paranoid, _thank you very much_; he had come across the two talking in the storage room one day talking about how he needed to loosen up.

'_Whatever the hell that means,' _Zexion thought irritably, _'The only thing they've done is piss me off and interrupt my time with Demyx.' _A smile tugged at his lips at the thought of his often-clueless blond boyfriend. It seemed that whenever he was having a particularly shitty day, the boy would be right there with something to cheer him up. It was amazing to him how sweet Demyx could be. He didn't know what he'd do if the blond had a bad day.

Speaking of his favorite blond… Zexion looked up just in time to see his boyfriend walk through the entrance of the store with his usual blinding smile in place. The older male skipped over to him and hopped up onto the counter before planting a kiss on his cheek.

Zexion's face flushed with color as Xigbar and Marluxia began catcalling.

"Dem…" he murmured.

"I just wanted to come say 'hi' before I have to start working," Demyx said. "And I think I left my moogle hat at your place last night. Did you see it?"

Zexion nodded. "It's in my bag. I'll go get it."

Demyx beamed and planted a second kiss on his boyfriend's cheek. "Great! Reeve would kill me if I lost that thing again. It's weird how protective he is over these hats… Zack tried to take his and put it on Cloud's head yesterday and he spazzed out and snatched it away and clutched it to his chest- It was _really _funny. Selphie took pictures if you want to see them."

"You could always get Reno to tap into the security camera's," Zexion said, wondering if it was bad that he knew Reno could do that. He swore to find some way to blame it on Marluxia and his gossiping.

Demyx's eyes went wide. "Seriously? Do you think he would? That would be so cool! Oh, but… Reeve probably already deleted that section. It has something to do with him not liking the way he looks on camera."

Zexion raised an eyebrow. "He's on commercials all the time since he owns Moogle Garden _and _Kung Pow Wutai. If anything, he deleted it so he wouldn't look like a fool."

Demyx laughed. "Yeah, that makes better sense. So, my hat?"

Zexion nodded and said that he'd be right back. Demyx nodded and remained in his spot on the counter, waggling his fingers at Marluxia while Zexion left to retrieve the moogle hat. When Zexion returned with the hat, Demyx smiled and kissed his lips before taking the hat and waltzing out of the store.

"Dude, you're almost as red as this Strawberry Mist!" Xigbar crowed in delight.

The shade of red coloring Zexion's face darkened, resulting in Marluxia and Xigbar howling with laughter. He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white and then he grabbed the nearest two bottles and chucked it at their heads. He smirked when he heard the clunk of the bottles as they hit their mark as well as the twin cries of pain. But that all vanished when he registered the presence standing right behind him.

"Mr. Shade," Xemnas drawled. "I do believe we have had a chat about co-worker abuse before. Is it necessary to go through this again?"

"N-no," Zexion stammered. Never again did he want to sit through one of Xemnas's two-hour long rants during which he'd randomly delve off into a completely unrelated topic.

"Then do not let me find you doing this again," Xemnas said with the air of a parent gently lecturing a young child. And then he was gone.

Zexion breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the counter.

* * *

Irvine sat in complete misery at the Dip 'n Dots, watching as his redhaired co-worker, Kairi, rubbed noses with her energetic girlfriend. If it weren't for the fact that he was bored to tears and had jammed his thumb exactly sixteen times trying to work the slushie machine, he might have been able to enjoy the sight.

Scooping out a cup of the ice cream balls was his other co-worker, a quiet girl named Fuu pointedly ignored him and carried on with her work like always. It seemed to him that she went out of her way to ignore him, the way she would always walk around him to retrieve something sitting right beside of him instead of asking for it to be handed to her.

'_Hyne, does nothing interesting ever happen around here?'_

_

* * *

  
_

Squall Leonhart wasn't a man to be trifled with, especially when he was on a mission, but that was exactly what Cloud was doing at that very moment. Oddly enough, the blond man hadn't pulled him aside to molest him for once. Instead, it was to talk.

Squall wasn't sure what to make of the serious side of Cloud. The only time the blond was like that was whenever Zack had done something particularly dumb or was trying to strip (again). For him to be keeping his hands to himself meant that something was really bothering him.

"What's this about, Cloud?" Squall asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Cloud regarded the brunet for a moment, letting no hint of what he was thinking grace his handsome face. It wasn't until Squall began shifting uncomfortable that he finally spoke. "I need your help," he said.

Squall blinked in surprise. Of all of the things he thought the blond might say, that wasn't one of them. "… with what?" he asked cautiously.

Cloud sighed and leaned against the wall. "My brother," he said tiredly.

It was then that Squall realized just how exhausted his co-worker looked. He hadn't noticed it before, since Cloud carried himself in a very professional manner while he was working. Now that he thought about it, Cloud had been a little distracted that week. He hadn't been as enthusiastic in his molestation as usual, which should have been Squall's first clue that something was wrong.

"Roxas?" Squall questioned, imagining that the younger blond could easily cause as much trouble as his older brother.

"Sora," Cloud corrected with a light shake of his head. "He and Riku have broken up over a fight they had. He won't admit it, but he's absolutely miserable and he's dragging the rest of us with him. He keeps waking me up at night with his crying and I know Roxas isn't faring much better."

"How am I suppose to help?" Squall asked. "It seems to me that Zack would be more adept at helping you with this. He and Sora get along very well."

Cloud shook his head. "Zack's plans get too complicated and Sora knows all of his tricks. I need something simpler. I need your help."

Squall looked at the blond in front of him for a moment, debating whether or not to help him out. It didn't help that part of him wanted to take the older man in his arms and hold him tight.

'_What about Seifer?' _a part of his brain nagged. _'What happened to trying to get his attentions? Or do you not like him anymore?' _

Squall shook his head to clear his thoughts.

Cloud took that as a sign that Squall wasn't going to help him out and visibly deflated. As he turned to walk out of the room, Squall realized what he was thinking and reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"I'll help you," he said without another thought. "What do you need me to do?"

A relieved smile graced Cloud's lips for a split second, sending shivers down the brunet's spine. He looked so - dare he say it? - cute when he let down his guard. It made him wonder how innocent the blond would look asleep.

'_Now's not the time,' _he thought, furious with himself. _'Focus! You're suppose to be helping him not ogling him!'_

"First, I need a place where I can get them together where they can talk without anyone interrupting them," Cloud said.

Squall thought for a moment and then said, "I think I know just the place."

* * *

Yuffie slammed a tray of bowls and plates into the sink, not paying any mind when dirty, bubbly water splashed all over herself, the floor, and the dishwasher. "This job sucks!" she declared loudly, ignoring the desperate cries of the poor dishwashing boy as one of the plates collided with the metal sink and shattered.

"Kisaragi!" roared the head waiter Tseng.

Yuffie winced and dove for cover under one of the racks to hide from the man. If he found out that she had broken another plate, she was going to be in big-time trouble. She pulled her legs in under the metallic rack just as the tall Wutaian approached the sink with his usual frown firmly in place. She childishly stuck her tongue out at him. _'Ha! Try to find me now, Mr. Grumpy! My ninja skills are the best!'_

A voice in the back of her head (which sounded strangely like her friend Aerith) chastised her for hiding and letting someone else take the blame for something she did. She was able to ignore it before a second one chimed in (that one sounded like Sephiroth) and mentioned how disappointed Kairi would be if she were to find out about the plate.

Cursing her consciences, Yuffie crawled out from under the rack and shoved her hands into her pockets. "I'm right here," she muttered.

Tseng turned away from the dishwashing boy to face her. "So, you were hiding again."

Yuffie scowled and looked away. "Yeah, so."

Tseng looked at her for a moment longer with no expression on his face. Then he sighed and walked over to her. "It's coming out of your paycheck," he said as he took her by the shoulders and began steering her back out into the front. "Now get back to work, Wutaian brat."

Yuffie skipped forward a few paces before she stopped to turn back and stick her tongue out at him. Dissatisfied with the lack of reaction, she huffed and grabbed a few menus before carelessly waving on a group of four diners to follow her.

'_I am _never _having children,' _Tseng thought to himself as he went back to work.

* * *

Irvine stared off into space in boredom. Kairi had left to go eat lunch with her friend a while back, leaving him all alone with Fuu. Needless to say, Fuu wasn't very pleased, but then neither was he.

'_No wonder this was the only place with a position open,' _he thought.

"Wark?"

Irvine blinked as a yellow face with blue eyes invaded his vision. It _wark_ed again and he blinked once more. Then he screamed and toppled backwards in his chair.

"_There it is!" _he heard a girl shout. He sat back up just in time to see the large bird _wark _in alarm and then take off running. Then came along the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. His breath caught in his throat as she came running towards him, her copper-brown curls bouncing with each footstep and her bright green eyes radiating with spirit.

"Hi, Fuu!" she yelled as she ran past. "Bye, Fuu!" she finished with a giggle and kept chasing after the bird.

So enraptured with the beauty of the brunette, Irvine never saw it coming.

_It _was a second chocobo, one with white and black feathers and violet eyes. It gave no warning before it craned it's head over the side and grabbed onto Irvine's ponytail and yanked.

His cries of pain could be heard throughout the entire mall and from that day forward, Irvine swore he would one day have his revenge for what those annoying birds did to him.

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

Ta-da! It took me forever to finish, but here it is! The second chapter of Mall Duty 2! Now that I've gotten around to the main stores, I can actually set the story into motion.

Oh, and as for the completely random chocobos, I realized I had Irvine say something along the lines of "does anything _ever_ happen around here?" and so I just had to have something bizarre happen. I thought of a moogle first but then decided that a chocobo would cause more chaos. And then one chocobo became two.


	3. Making a Mess of Things

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Disney and Square Enix. Also, the only stores/restaraunts mentioned in this fanfiction that belong to me are _Moogle Garden _and _Kung Pow Wutai._

_

* * *

  
_

**Mall Duty 2**

_3. Making a Mess of Things_

Aka How to piss Sora off

"Dammit, Zack!" Reeve screeched. "Put your shirt back on!"

Those were the words Irvine was greeted by as he got in line at the popular restaurant Moogle Garden. He cautiously looked around, wondering if he was about to get involved in some mess like the chocobo-incident from earlier. (Come to think of it, he never did find out who that cute girl was.)

He soon discovered that the source of the commotion was a guy with spiky black hair who was unbuttoning his shirt to slide down one side and reveal his bare shoulder to a group of giggling girls. Standing nearby, spazzing out, was a tall man with his hands fisted in his graying brown hair.

"Come on, Zack!" he begged. "Put it back on! _And _button it up before somebody complains! This isn't like when you worked at Abercrombie last year! This is a _restaurant_! Zaaa~aaack!"

"Hey there!" a blond appeared in front of Irvine with a bright smile on his face and a misshapen moogle hat on his head. "Table for one?" he asked.

Irvine nodded, wondering if he dared to ask about the stripping male.

Demyx took the choice out of his hands when he said, "Don't mind him. He does it just to get a rise out of Reeve. I think he thinks it's funny. Unless he's trying to get Reeve to fire him. I don't really mind if Zack strips or not since it brings in lots of customers and I can make more money to spend on my Zexy. I kind of miss Reno though. I always had fun talking to him," he rambled as he led Irvine to a table. He handed Irvine a menu as the brunet took a seat and then bounced off without another word.

'_Is it just me, or is everyone around here _really _weird?' _Irvine thought, unfolding the menu. He glanced over at Reeve quickly and noticed a blond kid and a redhead sneaking up behind him before he turned his attention back to his menu.

"If you're going to keep stripping, then you might as well go back to Abercrombie!" Reeve shouted. "In fact, I'm going to give Cissnei a call right now and tell her to switch Reno back! I'll even take his sarcastic little fire-happy ass back if it means not having to deal with--- AHH!"

Irvine looked up in time to see Reeve collapse on the floor in fear while the short blond and a redhead started laughing.

"N-nice one, Roxy!" the redhead stammered through his laughter, clutching at his sides.

Irvine could only sigh as Reeve began shouting again before storming off to presumably lock himself in his office. For the first time ever, he wished that the summer was over so he wouldn't have to spend anymore time in the mall of psycho-workers.

* * *

"Hey, Fuu," Selphie said, leaning over the counter at the Dip 'n Dots. "Is it just you working today? Because Kairi said she had something important to talk to me about today and she's not even here to tell me." She pouted and flicked at the spoons resting in a cup.

"She's around," Fuu replied. "Hands off."

Selphie removed her hands from the spoons and started strumming her fingers on the counter. "So where is she? You two know you can't tell me you have something to tell me and then vanish before you can tell me! Fuu, _please _tell me you know what Kairi wants to tell me," she begged.

"Affirmative," Fuu replied.

"So are you going to tell me?"

"Negative."

"Why not! Oh, c'mon, Fuu! You've _got_ to tell me! You've just got to!"

Fuu ignored her in favor of checking on the malfunctioning slurpee machine. It seemed that ever since Irvine started working there, the machine refused to correctly churn the flavored ice.

"You know I hate it when you ignore me like that!" Selphie exclaimed. "C'mon, Fuu! Talk to me!"

Fuu said nothing and instead busied herself with checking the supply of ice cream.

"Are you bothering Fuu _again_?" Kairi asked as she returned with a shopping bag. "I told you I had to go get something and then I'd be back to talk to you. Didn't you get that message?"

Selphie nonchalantly checked her cell phone. "Nope."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Here, Fuu," she said, handing over the shopping bag.

Fuu took the bag and stashed it away before Selphie could even consider snatching it away to see what was inside.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on or am I going to have to tickle it out of you?" Selphie threatened.

"Relax, I'm going to tell you," Kairi said. "You've been so busy over at Moogle Garden lately that you've been missing all of the crazy stuff going down. First of all, Sora and Riku are fighting."

"_Whhaaaaat?" _Selphie shrieked, leaping back from the counter. "No way! How did this happen? When did this happen? Why? Tell me! C'mon, Kai! Spill!" She was back up at the counter a split second after jumping away, her whole body practically wiggling in excitement. "Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

Kairi laughed, holding up her hands in a gesture to calm down. "Alright, relax!" she said, as her smile faded away. "It happened a few weeks ago. I don't know exactly what happened, since Riku's the only one who will tell me anything about the fight and he doesn't know what he said or did to get Sora so pissed. All he said was that he and Sora were talking about living together one day once they've graduated college and Sora made up some excuse and left without giving Riku a kiss goodbye. The next day they had a fight because Riku said Sora was acting weird and Sora denied it and things got out of hand."

"Wow…" Selphie murmured in shock. "I can't believe it. Those two never fight! Not like this anyway…" She sighed and straightened up, crossing her arms over her chest. "This is really serious. Both of them have to be completely miserable like this. Not that either of them would ever admit it."

"Men," Fuu muttered, rolling her eyes.

"No, _boys_," Selphie corrected with a quick shade of her head. She paced back and forth for a moment, trying to think of something to do to help get her friends back together. It was so difficult to believe that the two were fighting. It was almost like someone saying that Cloud stopped flirting with all of the guys and was going steady with someone!

"First of all, we need to get Sora's side of the story," she said. "Since Riku apparently has no idea about what he did or said to piss Sora off, then that means Sora's the only one who knows. Unless he told Roxas." She looked over to Kairi for confirmation.

Kairi shook her head. "I asked Roxas yesterday and he said he doesn't know. He said he'd tell me if he does find out. You know he hates seeing Sora so miserable."

"Scheduling," Fuu piped up.

Kairi nodded. "Yeah. And Sora keeps changing Axel's hours around so he doesn't have time to go on lunch dates with Roxas. But how'd you know that, Fuu? I didn't say anything about that when I told you about all of this before."

Fuu said nothing.

"Okay!" Selphie exclaimed, smacking her fist into her open palm. "Listen up while I tell you about Operation: Matchmaker!"

A feeling of dread washed over Kairi. What had she done in unleashing Hurricane Selphie upon the poor people of the mall. Because that was how far the "mission" would go. Innocent people _would _become involved, no matter how willing or unwilling they were. It was scary how persuasive the petite brunette could be.

"First of all, we obviously have to get Sora and Riku back together. That's our number one priority!" Selphie exclaimed. "But haven't you noticed how lonely Zack seems sometimes? See, I propose we also find someone for Zack! Maybe a girlfriend. And there's also this Sephiroth and Genesis problem. We should try to hook them up too!" She squealed and clapped her hands together. "Oh, this is so exciting! This is going to be the best summer ever! I'm going to go start making plans for all of this. In the meantime, figure out Sora's side of the story and then let me know! I'll call you later!"

Kairi blinked as Selphie zoomed off to go plot (and possibly torment Marluxia with the information she received).

"Regret?" Fuu asked, sounding amused.

"Shut up," Kairi grumbled as she rejoined Fuu behind the counter.

* * *

"I don't get it," Yuffie remarked, watching as a second group of hungry customers took one look at Vincent and skedaddled off in fright. "What's so scary about Vin? I mean, sure, he's got that long black hair and those red eyes and I guess he's a teensy bit intimidating, but he's not _that _scary. I mean, I mess with him all the time and he doesn't threaten to kill me or anything. He glares a little bit… actually, that's pretty damn scary. But still! That's the worst he does!"

"It's because you know him," the dishwasher boy remarked as he pulled off his sopping wet apron to exchange it for a different one.

"Maybe," she said, unconvinced. "But I wasn't afraid of him when I first met him either. Were you, Vaan?"

"A little," Vaan admitted. "But my uncle Cid's way scarier than him, so I'm kind of used to it. Why does the boss have him as the greeter today anyway? Doesn't Mr. Tseng usually do that?"

"Tseng's on lunch break," Yuffie said with a shrug. "And I'm not allowed to do it anymore because I can't remember which tables are taken and which ones are clean and which ones are dirty."

"But you can memorize the table numbers and remember which order belongs to which table and each individual person at that table," Vaan said.

"Yup! My memory's weird like that," Yuffie said cheerfully. "Hey, maybe we should have you be the greeter for a while! I bet you'd attract lots of people over here! Hmm… too bad Zack doesn't work here with us. I wonder if I can convince Reeve to put him to work over here instead of at Moogle. It wouldn't be too hard for him to do, y'know, since he owns both places."

"I don't think that would be a good idea, Miss Yuffie," Vaan said. "Mr. Tseng would have an aneurism if he had to work with both you and Zack - no offense!"

"I know I cause trouble," she said with a shrug. "And you're probably right. Poor Tseng has enough stress without Zack over here trying to strip." Her eyes lit up suddenly and she grabbed Vaan's arm. "I just got the most genius idea! How about you go stand out in front of the store and start stripping! That would get people to relax and then they wouldn't get scared off by Vincent anymore!"

Vaan began to inch away from the hyperactive girl. "No, no, that's okay. Stripping isn't necessary. I- uh, I have dishes to wash. So I'm going to go back and do that. Like now. Later!" he said and dashed off before Yuffie could catch his arm and keep him there to talk.

Yuffie pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "_Oh_, but it was a good plan!"

* * *

Tseng sat down at a table at Moogle Garden with a heavy sigh and then proceeded to glare at the shiny surface of the table.

"Geez, man. What'd the poor table ever do to you?" Zack asked. "The way you're glaring at it, you'd think it killed your best friend or something."

"Yuffie," Tseng muttered. "She's driving me insane."

"Ah," Sephiroth spoke up in an understanding tone. "Yuffie is well known for causing even the most sane of people to become insane. Just talk to Reeve."

"Naw, it's Zack here who drives Reeve insane," Reno said. "Ain't that right, Zack?"

Zack rolled his eyes and shoved Reno out of his seat.

"Hey! Watch it!" Reno yelled.

Sephiroth easily hoisted Reno back up into his seat. "Alright, _children_. Settle down before one of you cracks your head open on the floor. We're suppose to be having a not-insane lunch for once. Which is why Cloud isn't joining us today."

"I don't think he'd be an issue anyway," Zack remarked. "He's been acting all weird lately."

"I've seen him hangin' out with Leonhart all the time," Reno said. "They're always talkin' to each other at work all secret-like. It's weird."

Zack's eyes went wide. "What? Wait, when did this happen? Why's he hanging out with Leonhart!" he demanded, grabbing Reno by the shirt and shaking him. "Tell me dammit!"

"F-f-fuck, Fair!"

"Tell me!"

"Y-yo!"

"I said _tell me!_"

Sephiroth stared at his two friends, his face devoid of emotion. Then he sighed lightly and turned his head to look at Selphie, who was standing there staring at them with wide eyes. Ever-so-calmly, he gave her his order before asking Tseng what he wanted.

"Wait-a-second!" Selphie interrupted Sephiroth, deciding it would be best to ignore Zack and Reno. "I'm on break, which means I'm not your waitress. We've got a new girl. She's your waitress. She's just a little hesitant about coming over here. I can understand why, since Zack's being weirder than usual and you're actually kind of creepy even when you don't mean to be…" She trailed off for a moment, tapping her finger against the hem of her yellow dress. "But that's the weird thing. It's _you_, Tseng."

"Me?" Tseng asked in surprise.

"Yup. Dunno why," Selphie said with a shrug. "Well, good luck handling Zack! I've gotta go meet Kairi and Fuu right now. You know, for super-secret stuff. Later!"

Before Sephiroth could even dare to ask about Selphie's "super-secret stuff" and request that it _please_ not involve him in any way, the hyperactive brunette was gone, vanished in a flash of yellow.

Tseng took note of the brief expression of frustration that flickered across Sephiroth's face and couldn't help but feel worried. It was never a good thing when Sephiroth was annoyed by something. _Ever._

"Y-yo! Fair!"

"_TELL ME!"_

Sephiroth realized the two were still fighting about Cloud hanging out with Leonhart and finally decided to put an end to their argument in his own "mature, responsible way". He nonchalantly snapped his leg out and kicked back Zack's chair and then Reno's, causing the two of them to topple backwards and crash into the floor.

"_Fuck!"_

"_Owwww…."_

"Are the two of you finished with your petty fight?" Sephiroth questioned, his voice just as calm and steady as always.

Zack helped himself up using the table and directed a glare at Sephiroth before he picked up his chair and sat back down. Then he looked down and kicked Reno in the shin. "Will you get back up here and explain what the hell is going on over at that store? Why's Cloud hanging out with Leonhart all of a sudden? Why hasn't he come to visit _me_? I'm his best friend! He should be talking to me!"

"How the hell should I know?" Reno asked as he crawled out from under the table. "It's not like I talk to him! Hell, half the time I get stuck working with that pain in the ass Almasy!"

"As if you don't pay attention to everything that goes on wherever you're at!" Zack yelled.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Reno shouted, shoving back his chair as he stood up.

Zack stood up as well, slightly miffed to find he's the teensiest bit short than the lanky redhead. "Just what it sounds like, you paranoid pyromaniac!"

"I am _not _a pyromaniac, yo! That's my brother!"

"Could have fooled me!"

Sephiroth sighed as the argument escalated into an actual fight and one of them tackled the other and both of them ended up back on the floor. "Exactly how they haven't gotten arrested for public disturbance is beyond my understanding," he muttered.

"Probably because the only mall cop we have is Lexaeus Bird," Tseng said.

"Excellent point, as always," Sephiroth said. "I believe it is time we took our leave before Reeve comes out and decides to murder us all." He calmly stood up and pushed in his chair before slipping his hands into his pocket and walking away.

Tseng fumbled with his chair and then quickly followed after him, but not before bumping into a pretty blonde waitress who was carrying a tray of dirty dishes. The two of them, as well as the dishes, went crashing to the floor, almost causing a bigger ruckus than Zack and Reno.

Tseng grunted as he pushed himself up onto his knees and then got to his feet, before remembering that he had bumped into someone and that someone was still down on the floor surrounded by broken dishes. When he started forward with an apology and plans to help her up, he slipped on a piece of a plate and went crashing back down towards the ground. That time, his head didn't hit the hard, tiled floor. Instead, it landed on something soft and squishy and distinctly alive.

'_Oh fuck me…'_

The next thing he new he was shoved back and a resounding smack filled the small food court as the infuriated woman smacked him across the face, leaving a stinging handprint on his cheek.

Tseng sat there numbly, giving his overworked brain a little time to try and sort out what just happened. All he could come up with was, _'…what a beautiful woman…'_

* * *

Squall couldn't say he was very fond of Cloud's plan to talk to Sora. That is to say, he didn't see how it would make things any better. But there he was, playing guard duty, when he could have been off doing something much more productive with his time. For instance, he could have been stalking Seifer at that very moment.

He sighed and leaned against the doorframe while Cloud and Sora stared each other down, daring the other to be the first one to talk. _'This is so boring. Cloud wanted to talk to him so why doesn't he just talk already? Then I can go back out there and see if I can find Seifer.'_

"If this is about _him _then you can forget about trying to talk to me," Sora crossly said.

'_At last!' _Squall internally cheered. _'One of them speaks!'_

"You've been miserable for weeks," Cloud began. "We've all felt like we've had to tiptoe around you because of it! But now it's been going on for too long and I'm getting sick of it! And so is Roxas!"

"It's none of your business!" Sora shouted.

"It is when it interrupts _my _sleep!" Cloud yelled back.

'_What ever happened to calmly discussing the problem?' _Squall wondered. _'This isn't a talk; this is a screaming match.'_

"What is I'm not ready to talk about it? Did you ever think of that? Because I _don't want to talk about it!_"

"Well that's too damn bad, because we're going to talk about it right now! You're not leaving until you tell me what went wrong between you and Ri--"

"_Don't say his name!" _Sora interrupted with a scream.

"Riku!" Cloud continued, daring to say the name. "The two of you were so damn happy together and then all of the sudden you start acting like a pissed off two-year-old!"

Sora got off of the box he was sitting on and started for the door, his eyes blazing in fury. "I don't want to talk to you about this, _man-whore._"

Cloud stiffened. "Sora," he said warningly.

"What?" Sora snapped, turning around. "Can't face the truth, _man-whore?_"

Squall clenched his fists, not liking where the screaming match was going. No one, not even Cloud's little brother, was going to get away with talking to Cloud like that. "That's enough," he said, his strong voice drowning out any other scathing remark Sora had. "Sora, get back to work. I'll talk to you later."

Sora scowled and shoved past the brunet on his way out the door while Cloud numbly sat down on the boxes.

Once he was gone, Squall walked over to Cloud and put his arm around the blond. He had found out from all of his years of working with him that Cloud was usually best comforted by a physical presence.

"Don't listen to him," he said softly. "Sora's angry about everything right now. You're not a man-whore. Everyone knows that."

"Not everyone…" Cloud murmured.

"Everyone who matters," Squall amended, wishing that he wasn't the one Cloud went to for help. Anyone else would have been much better at comforting him or even shutting up Sora before he took it that far. "We're not in high school anymore. You can't let that damn word get to you anymore. We all know that one day you're going to fall hopelessly in love with someone and get married and have ten children and a dog in the suburbs."

Cloud chuckled weakly.

"And once Sora is back to normal he's going to feel horrible about everything he's done," Squall said. "He's going to need you to be there and tell him it's okay, even if it's not. That's what older brothers are for." He snorted suddenly and shook his head. "Damn. I've been spending too much time around Rinoa lately."

Cloud was silent for a moment and then he moved out of Squall's hug with a sigh. "We'd better get back to work."

"Yeah," Squall agreed, a hollow feeling rising in his chest. _'Why do I feel so… sad? Like I'm disappointed that Cloud pulled away. Weird.' _He cleared his throat and stood up. "Lets go before Reno starts to think we're doing inappropriate things in the closet. It'll be bad enough that he can make jokes about this for the rest of the week."

Squall started to walk for the door and it was only when he opened it that he realized Cloud wasn't following him. He stopped walking with one foot out the door to turn and look back at the blond man. "Are you coming?" he asked.

Cloud got up and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Yeah," he murmured before walking over to the door. "You know, I think that's the most I've ever heard you talk," he remarked.

"Don't get used to it," Squall warned.

* * *

"Sora Ventus Strife!" Kairi yelled as she barged into Spencers later that evening. Her shift had just ended and she had heard of the earlier episode between him and Cloud. She was _not _happy about the way things were going between her friends and was hell-bent on fixing things.

Yuffie trailed after her, distracted by the many odd things on the walls of the store.

Sora froze in his place behind the counter when he heard the angry tone in Kairi's voice. Slowly, he tried to sink down under the counter to hide and possibly escape the redhead's wrath.

"I know you're under that counter so don't you dare try to hide from me!"

Sora uttered a curse under his breath and slowly stood up, making sure to grab the trashcan. He could at least make it look like he wasn't trying to hide from her. "H-hey there, Kairi," he greeted. _'Damn it! That was way too cheerful!'_

Kairi narrowed her eyes at him and marched over to the counter. "We need to talk. _Now._"

"I'm working," Sora instinctively said.

"I don't care," Kairi snapped. "We're going to talk now before you have any chance of sneaking off and pissing off someone else. Did you know that you've been in such a bitchy mood that you caused _Larxene _to quit and switch back jobs with Xigbar? And the only reason he hasn't quit is because he's too stoned half the time to realize what's going on!"

Sora flinched. "Kai, I don't--"

"Don't you _Kai_ me, Sora!" the redhead interrupted. "We're going to talk about this right now in front of everyone in this damn store! Unless you'd rather take this to the storage room?"

"Fine," Sora muttered after a brief moment of silence. He called Axel over to take care of the counter and then led Kairi back to the storage room.

"I'm gonna look around out here for a while, love," Yuffie called after the two. She beamed when Kairi replied with an "okay" and began examining some of the jewelry.

"So, is she finally going to snap the bitch out of his foul mood?" Axel asked.

"That's what we're hoping," Yuffie said as she picked up a Nintendo wristband. She looked at it for a moment and then hooked it back onto the wall. "So, do you have anything interesting in?"

"Depends on what you mean by 'interesting'," Axel replied, walking out from behind the counter. "Everything around here is interesting in some way. Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"Got anything Wutaian?"

A smile slowly spread across Axel's face. "I think I can help you with that."

* * *

**End Chapter**

* * *

I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter done, but it shouldn't happen again now that school is out. I no longer really know what is going on with this story or what Squall and Cloud are trying to accomplish by stealing the story away from Sora. I think that next chapter things will start to wind down. Kairi will have figured out why Sora's mad at Riku and that will be fixed, so then I just have to figure out what to do with Squall, Cloud, Zack, and Seifer; Tseng and the mysterious blonde waitress; Irvine and Selphie; and Sephiroth and Genesis.

Half the fun is not knowing what will happen, right?

Feel free to ask any questions or make a suggestion on how I can improve my writing.


	4. How to Mend a Broken Heart

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Disney and Square Enix. I also don't own any of the stores at the fictional mall except for Moogle Garden and Kung Pow Wutai.

**

* * *

**

**Mall Duty 2**

_4. How to Mend a Broken Heart_

Kairi stared at Sora once he finished telling her the reason he and Riku were fighting. She couldn't believe what he told her. Why would he get so angry over something so simple? She wouldn't have been able to figure out what Sora was angry about even if she had been around to witness everything. She doubted that even Selphie or Fuu - both of whom always noticed even the smallest things when it came to relationships - would have been able to figure it out.

"So let me get this straight," she said as patiently as she could. "You and Riku were talking about moving in together after college and were talking about how your life would be. Then you started talking about children and Riku said he didn't want any, so you went all silent and left. Am I right so far?"

Sora nodded to the ground.

"The next day when Riku said you were acting weird, you and your idiotic self interpreted it as him saying you were weird for wanting children-"

Sora flinched.

"-which wasn't at all what he meant. But since you took it that way you got upset and then the two of you started yelling at each other and feelings got hurt. Then you broke up with him and stormed off, leaving Riku standing there with no real idea of what the hell was going on and no idea of how to fix things," she said with a sigh. "Sora, you're my best friend and all, but sometimes you make absolutely no sense."

"I know," Sora murmured pathetically. "I'm so stupid…"

"No, you just don't think," Kairi corrected. "All you have to do now is let go of your pride and go talk to Riku. He's been beating himself up over this. I heard he's even asked Roxas for advice. Granted, it wasn't exactly him asking Roxas so much as it was him talking to girl-Rikku and Roxas overhearing… And of course Cloud's tried to talk to you. For someone who's trying to fix things you sure are good at making things even worse."

A frustrated growl escaped Sora's throat. "I know," he said. "I know, I know, I know."

"So, what are you going to do?"

Sora looked up at his friend, hoping she would give him the answer.

"I can't always give you all of the answers," Kairi said, correctly interpreting his look. "You're nineteen now. If you can cause a mess as big as the one you've caused, then you can fix it. Where do you think you should start?"

Sora hesitated a moment and then asked, "Cloud?"

"Bingo," Kairi said with a nod.

* * *

Aerith sighed sadly as she sat down across from Genesis at Kung Pow Wutai. Seconds later, Kadaj joined them with his PSP and headphones. Somehow during the short week he had been living with Sephiroth, the silver-haired man had managed to weasel his way into a job at Game Stop. Fortunately, he didn't bother Aerith nearly as much as Genesis did, even if he did seem to play video games twenty-four-seven.

"If the two of you are going to eat dinner with me, the least you could do is put away your books and video games and talk to me," she said.

Genesis "hmm'd" and turned the page of his Loveless manga, which was still disguised as the play, LOVELESS. Kadaj said nothing and continued playing his game.

Aerith huffed and gave into her inner rage by snatching both of the distractions away from the two males.

"I was reading that!"

"My game!"

Aerith nonchalantly stuffed both items into her purse and then sat back in her chair, daring them to protest further. Wisely, the guys remained quiet.

"So, uh," Genesis searched for a decent topic of conversation. "Did you hear about Zack and Reno's fight over at Moogle Garden earlier?"

"A fight?" Aerith asked in surprise. It was the first she had heard of the two fighting in a long time. Sure, they had their usual disagreements-turned-arguments, but for the two of them to actually start a fight in a public place was actually quite unusual.

Genesis nodded. "From what I heard, they were arguing over Cloud."

'_Figures,' _Aerith thought bitterly. _'It's always about Cloud. He's a nice guy and all, but he's not __**that**__ great. Besides, it's obvious that Cloud has no interest in Zack aside from being his best friend. That's why he stopped flirting with him when he found out Zack was actually interested in him.'_

"That's an interesting look," Kadaj remarked, studying Aerith closely. "Is that _jealousy _I see? Tsk, tsk."

"It's nothing," Aerith lied as she quickly looked away from him.

Genesis smirked and leaned forward, very interested in the turn the conversation had taken. "Well look at that; little miss pure of heart has an ugly side. I never thought I would be blessed enough to see the day."

"I said it's _nothing_, Genesis," Aerith said, trying to maintain her cool. _'Just my luck. I'm eating lunch with the two most astute guys who don't know how to keep their big mouths shut. I wish I had a break with Sephiroth… At least he doesn't pry when I don't want him to.'_

"The question is, is it over Zack or Reno?" Kadaj said.

"Zack," Genesis said wisely. "Reno's not her type."

"What makes you think you know my type? It could be Reno," Aerith said defensively.

"Is he?"

Aerith looked away, knowing there was no use in trying to get him to shut up or change the subject. Somehow, he already knew that she liked Zack. She couldn't help but wonder if he found out on his own or if someone mentioned it to him. If it was Sephiroth, he was a dead man.

"See, that means it's Zack," Genesis said smugly.

Before Aerith could refute his claim, their waitress bounced up to take their order.

"Hey guys, nice to see you over here instead of at Moogle like usual," Yuffie said cheerfully. "At least you're not scared off by Vincent like tons of other people. I've lost count of the number of people who have turned around the moment they saw him up at the front desk. It's a little annoying… But anyways, what can I get for you guys? We can start with drinks if you're not ready to order yet."

"Sweetened tea for me," Aerith spoke up.

Genesis grimaced. "I don't know how you can drink that sweet crap," he said bluntly. "I'll have water."

"Sake for me," Kadaj said, reaching for his wallet to remove his drivers license. He showed it to Yuffie before slipping it back into his pocket. Taking note of the frown on Aerith's face, he said, "Relax. It's just a glass or two. It won't badly impair my ability to work."

Aerith continued to frown, but said nothing about his choice of drink.

"Are you guys ready to order yet?" Yuffie asked, tapping her pencil against her small notebook.

"Not yet," Genesis spoke up for them all. "We'll need a few more minutes."

"'kay," Yuffie chirped. "I'll be right back with your drinks."

They watched as she bounced away and then the boys looked back at Aerith, who tried her best to ignore them and look over the menu.

'_Forget what I said about Kadaj not being as annoying as Genesis,' _she thought. _'He's equally annoying.'_

* * *

Cloud watched with narrowed eyes as Squall stealthily made his way over to Seifer. He knew all too well of the crush the younger man had on the green-eyed blond and he wasn't pleased about the way things were going. Sure he had a habit of flirting with anyone and everyone under the sun, but even Yuffie, who never noticed anything outside of her little world, noticed that he was infatuated with Squall. So why couldn't Squall see it? Why was it that the one person who he wanted to know was so dense that he couldn't see it?

Cloud grumbled something about stupid brunets under his breath and then stomped over to shove a box into Seifer's hands before he stalked off to find Reno. Squall stared after him with a frown on his face, while Seifer cursed and yelled after him that he wasn't some pack mule.

It took Cloud ten minutes to realize Reno had taken off on an impromptu break to go wreak havoc on the mall. In that ten minutes, he shoved past Seifer five times, restrained himself from molesting Squall three times, and glared at about ten customers.

The store manager, Cissnei, noticed his behavior and decided it was up to her to put a stop to it. Her method simply involved shoving him out the doors and telling him to not come back until he talked to Zack.

And so, Cloud found himself walking around the mall, wallowing in misery.

That was when Aerith found him and decided to take pity on him and lead him away to a quiet corner to talk. It was the first time in many weeks that she could understand why so many people liked him. There was something about him that drew her in, even though she was miffed about him stealing Zack's attention.

He reminded her of a lost child.

"Would you like to talk about what's bothering you?" she asked despite knowing there was little chance of getting him to talk. As she predicted, Cloud shook his head and stared moodily at the ground instead of saying anything. So she decided to try a different approach. It was an approach she usually only had to use on antisocial-Squall and moody-Roxas.

Aerith leaned back against the bench and delicately crossed one leg over the other as she looked up at the ceiling. "Zack's been acting oddly lately," she said softly. "Genesis says that he and Reno got into a fight earlier at lunch. Apparently they were arguing about something. I haven't really had a chance to talk to Zack lately…" She hesitated a moment and then continued. "I hope everything is alright. He and Reno usually get along pretty well. It must have been something serious. Have you heard anything about their fight?"

"No…"

Aerith brightened a little. She had managed to get a word out of him! That was a good start, right?

"I thought for sure he would have tried to talk to you," she said, looking at Cloud from the corner of her eye to gauge his reaction. Not to her surprise, he shifted uncomfortably.

"I haven't seen him," Cloud said.

Aerith quickly and easily translated that to: "I've been avoiding him all day."

"You really should talk to him," Aerith said. _'Don't make me go get him.'_

"I don't want to," Cloud replied. _'I'll run away and hide.'_

"I can't get him to say anything serious around me lately. He'll talk to you." _'Stop running away!'_

"No he won't." _'Make me!'_

Aerith had to refrain from giggling at her last translation of Cloud's words. It was something she would expect more to hear from anyone _but_ Cloud.

"Sure he will," she said, wincing at the amount of cheer she had to project into her voice. It was hard work trying to stay cheerful when all she wanted to do was scream and punch the wall in frustration. "Zack loves to talk to you, Cloud. I know he can talk to anyone for an indefinite period of time, but he really loves talking to you. Probably because you're too nice to tell him to be quiet." _'Running away won't stop him from finding you.'_

"So are you," Cloud muttered. "He likes talking to you too." _'I'll find a way.'_

"But he likes talking to you more." _'Please, Cloud.'_

"It doesn't matter. Let him talk to someone else." _'I can't.'_

Aerith sighed and dropped the topic, finding that she was getting no where. Getting Cloud to say something was one thing, but getting him to actually talk productively was an entirely different matter. She knew she was going to have to try a different method.

"I suppose I could try…" she mused. "So, how are you and Squall doing?"

Cloud jerked his head around to look at her so quickly she was amazed he didn't get whiplash. It was then that she knew she had discovered what was on Cloud's mind.

"W-what do you mean?" Cloud stammered once before collecting himself and continuing on in his usual calm voice. "Squall and I aren't together."

Aerith couldn't help but smile. She was beginning to piece things together. "I never said that you were," she pointed out.

Cloud cursed under his breath. He knew he had just given her the weapon she needed to break through and make him talk. And he thought Tifa was good at making him talk; Aerith was even worse!

"You must really like him. You never act quite like this when I mention any of your other interests. I suppose you didn't notice you liked him until he started liking Seifer, right?" she asked, recalling hearing Reno mention once or twice that Squall was paying a lot of attention to the rash blond man.

Cloud abruptly stood up. "I don't want to talk about this," he muttered, clenching his jaw.

Aerith reached out and took his hand. "Sit down, Cloud," she said firmly. "You have to talk to someone about this. I know you. If you don't talk about it, you'll keep everything bottled up inside until you blow up and do something dumb. Then everyone will find out about it all at once and I know you can't deal with that. Please, Cloud. Talk to me."

Cloud stood there for a moment longer before he gave in and sat back down. Cradling his head in his hands, he began to talk about his feelings for Squall and the problems at home with Sora. Aerith sat and patiently listened the whole time without interrupting once.

It was the least she could do.

* * *

'_I take it back,' _Zexion thought in misery. _'I don't want Larxene back here. Make her go away. I'd much rather deal with Xigbar and his idiosyncrasies, no matter how much he makes no sense or drives me mad.'_

"What the hell are they doing over there?" the blonde woman asked scathingly, once again back to her usual habits of watching the guys over at Abercrombie and Fitch. "It looks like one hell of a weird mating dance that Squall and blondie are doing."

Marluxia looked over in interest as he finished setting the last of the bottles of _Cherry Splash _on top of his pyramid of bottles. "Looks more like Seifer wants to run across to the balcony and leap off," he remarked.

Larxene snorted and rolled her eyes. "What does he think he is? An eagle?"

Zexion moaned and buried his face into his arms. Why-oh-why did he think things would be better if Xigbar wasn't around to torment him? Better yet, how could he have forgotten how much he hated working with Larxene? Outside of work, he honestly had no problems with her. However, the second he started to work with her he discovered that all he wanted to do was run away and hide in some dark corner whenever she was in the room.

'_Will this day ever end?'_ he wondered dismally.

"I don't know. I can't really imagine him as an eagle," Marluxia told Larxene. "He looks more like prey right now."

Zexion's saving grace walked into the store before the conversation could continue and get even worse. Clad in his moogle hat, Demyx walked into the store and promptly tripped and crashed right into Marluxia's _Cherry Splash_ pyramid.

"My pyramid!"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Ignoring Marluxia's wails of outrage and Larxene's mocking laughter, Zexion calmly walked over to his boyfriend to help him up, only to trip on one of the bottles and fall into the blond's lap.

Marluxia's wails and Demyx's apologies simultaneously stopped while Larxene's laughter grew louder. Her laughter was soon joined by Marluxia's as he decided that the embarrassed expression on Zexion's face was worth his hard work being destroyed.

Zexion could feel his cheeks burning red as he ducked his head to avoid everyone's gazes, especially Demyx's.

Demyx giggled and gently swept back part of Zexion's bangs so he could lean forward and give him a kiss on the cheek. "Don't be so hard on yourself. If you hadn't tripped on it, then I would have," he quietly said before moving back in to claim Zexion's lips.

In the back of his mind, Zexion privately thought that if Demyx kissed him like that every time he tripped and fell, he wouldn't mind it happening more often.

"Get a room!" Larxene yelled at them, fed up with the lovey-dovey behavior.

Scratch that, he wouldn't mind it happening only if Larxene and Marluxia weren't around to see it happen.

* * *

It took Sora the rest of the day before he was finally able to work up the courage to go find Cloud and apologize to him. By that time, the mall was closing and he and Roxas were walking out to their car in silence. As he sat down in the passenger's seat, he decided to practice his apologizing on Roxas. After all, he also owed his twin an apology for his behavior.

"Hey, Roxas," he quietly spoke up.

"Hmm?"

"…I'm sorry," he whispered.

Roxas put the car into reverse and began to back out of the parking spot as he said, "Now's a shitty time to decide you're sorry. And do you even know what you're sorry for? You can't expect to be able to just say that you're sorry and have everything forgiven. It doesn't work like that, especially not after what you said to Cloud."

Sora winced. "You heard about that, huh?"

"I think everyone in our circle heard about it," Roxas informed him. "And I don't think anyone was more angry about it than Squall."

Sora mentally filed away Squall as yet another person to apologize to. "I'm sorry I tried to keep you and Axel apart," he said faintly. "And that I took out my anger on you and Cloud. And for snapping at everyone. It was wrong. I just… You know those times where you just want to hide in a dark room and get away from everyone? That's what I wanted to do. But I couldn't. And I have to be around all of these people who are either too cheerful or are bugging me every five minutes to tell them what's bugging me and I couldn't take it anymore! I tried to be careful! I did! But it didn't work. And I had to see Riku every day and he always looked just fine and that made everything even worse! It made me feel like he never really loved me…"

"That's bullshit and you know it," Roxas snapped. "How could you think that he never loved you? Obviously you haven't been paying very close attention to _anything _since you broke up with him. The only person he actually talks to anymore is that Rikku girl and that's because she _makes _him talk to her. He doesn't even fight back when I try to fight with him anymore. Not to mention he's been scared to walk out of the front of the store because he doesn't want to see you glare at him. It's pathetic. Hell, he even stopped going to Moogle Garden for lunch because he couldn't bear to see you and know that you hate him."

"But I don't hate him!" Sora blurted out. "I… I…"

Roxas crinkled his nose. "Sora," he interrupted. "Do me a favor and don't turn this into some mushy love confession. I don't think my stomach could handle it."

"So… do you forgive me?"

"Only if you make dinner tonight…"

"Deal!"

"…and apologize to Cloud."

Sora was silent for a moment before he whispered, "Yeah. I will."

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

One more chapter left! I was going to continue with this chapter, but I figured everyone has waited long enough so I stopped. Besides, it was perfect timing since it was at the end of the day and they were leaving the mall. Everything is suppose to take place at the mall anyway.

I didn't have room to put in anything about Tseng and the blonde waitress, so that'll wait for the next chapter, along with everything else I didn't get to. Here's to hoping it'll be a long chapter, but a short wait!


	5. Epilogue: The Reigning King

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Disney and Square Enix. I do, however, own the ideas of Moogle Garden and Kung Pow Wutai. Just let me know if you want to use one of them.

**Mall Duty 2**

_Epilogue: The Reigning King_

"Rikku! I need your help with something in the back!" Roxas called out as he struggled to open the door with a box of clothes in his arms.

Riku dully looked up from the cash register. "What is it now?" he asked tiredly.

Roxas glared at him. "Not you, _fucktard,_" he growled. "I said _Rikku._"

Rikku looked between the two unsurely. On the one hand, if she interrupted them again she'd get yelled at (again). But if she didn't stop them, they wouldn't get any work done and would continue to bicker with each other.

"Maybe next time you should be more specific!" Riku said, his anger level beginning to rise.

"I was! She's Rikku and you're fucktard!"

"That's not my name!"

"Yes it is!"

Rikku worried her lower lip, looking back and forth between the two boys. They had to open up the store soon and they weren't anywhere near ready. If anything, they were more behind than when they started especially after Roxas tried to pick a fight with Riku and shoved him into one of the clothing racks.

"Um, guys?" she spoke up softly.

The two ignored her and continued to argue.

"Guys?" she asked again, a little more loudly that time.

Again, the two ignored her.

Rikku huffed and took a deep breath. "GUYS!" she screamed.

_That _got their attention. The arguing stopped as the two looked over at her in surprise. It was the first time she had raised her voice to yell at them in the whole month she had been working there. Not even Riku, who spent the most time with her, had ever heard her yell that loudly.

Rikku glared at them and put her hands on her hips. "We open in ten minutes and we are nowhere near ready! Just look at the mess you two made! Now clean it up or I'll tell Mr. Ansem!" she said, accenting her words with a stamp of her foot.

Riku and Roxas stared at her in surprise for a moment longer before they obediently got back to work. Rikku beamed and returned to her job of folding shirts. She was unable to stop herself from humming a jovial little tune as she worked and before long she ended up dancing around behind the counter.

'_Maybe today will be a good day,' _she thought. Then she caught a glimpse of Sora approaching from the store across from them and winced. _'Or maybe not.' _She glanced back at the guys, who were actually cleaning up without arguing with each other for once. Then she hurried away from the counter to go greet Sora at the gate and hopefully prevent him from walking into the store and creating a bigger mess for her to clean up.

"Why can't he send Axel over with messages like normal people?" she muttered to herself. She plastered a smile on her face as Sora got closer and stopped in front of the gate. "Hey, Sora!" she chirped. "What's up?"

"I need to talk to Riku," Sora said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Let me in."

Rikku shook her head. "Sorry, I can't. We're opening in, like, five minutes and still have tons of stuff to do. Roxas doesn't have time to talk right now. Can't it wait until after we open?"

"No," Sora said. "I need to talk to him now. And I said Riku, not Roxas."

"Wait, wait," Rikku said, holding up her hands, her brow furrowed in thought. "You want to talk to Riku? For real? Like, _talk _talk? Not yell at him until he curls up into a little ball and cries?"

"Rikku…" Sora said warningly. "Let me in."

"Can't," Rikku replied. "Don't you have your own job to do? I thought Axel had tons for you to do."

"He's not the boss of me."

"_He should be…"_

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

"Rikku!"

"What? I said nothing!" Rikku said, waving her hand. "Really, Sora, if you're hearing things then maybe you should go get your ears checked. I mean, it can't be good for you to send pulsing loud music through your eardrums every single day. Not at all."

"Changing the subject isn't going to work," Sora said. "Go get Riku. _Now._"

Rikku huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, mentally congratulating herself on her acting skills. There was no way she was going to let Sora in if there was any chance that Riku would end up sitting in the back in misery for the rest of the day. And truthfully, she would get in trouble with Mr. Ansem if she let anyone in the store who didn't work there, even if it was Sora. "If you're going to take that kind of tone with me, then I'm not going to do anything!"

"Tone?" Sora repeated in confusion. "What tone? I wasn't taking any tone to you! What are you talking about?"

Rikku turned up her nose and looked away. "If you don't know, then I'm not going to tell you."

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Yes it does."

"No it doesn't!"

From the corner of her eye, Rikku spotted Roxas slowly approaching and knew she was out of luck. He would have no qualms with letting Sora into the store, no matter how much it could potentially hurt Riku.

"Let him in," Roxas instructed. "He and Riku need to talk. And while they're talking, you and I are going to pay a little visit across the walkway to Spencer's."

Rikku frowned. "But Xigbar's scary," she murmured, shivering at the thought of running into the strange eye patch-wearing man.

Roxas shrugged as he opened the gate enough to duck under it, then he pulled Rikku out with him. "He's in the back," he whispered to Sora before he dragged Rikku off to Spencer's.

Sora quickly ducked under the gate and then pulled it closed before he set off to the back of the store to talk to Riku. He could feel his heart hammering away in his chest and wondered if it was loud enough for everyone else to hear.

He paused outside the door to the back and took a deep breath as he went over, for the billionth time, exactly what he was going to say to Riku. All of his thoughts of his well prepared apology fled his mind the second the door opened on its own and he came face to face with Riku.

"Riku…" he whispered breathlessly.

Riku stared down at him for a moment, his eyes wide in surprise, before his gaze hardened and he brushed past Sora. "Did Roxas let you in here just to make me miserable or something?" he asked loudly.

"No," Sora whispered, hanging his head. "That- that's not it. Not at all."

"Then what is it?" Riku demanded, spinning on his heel to glare at Sora. "Haven't you hurt me enough? It's bad enough that I have to see you every single day, going about your routine as if absolutely nothing is wrong. Now you have to come over here to torment me? Forget it. Get out of here, Sora," he said before turning his back to his ex-boyfriend.

Sora could feel his heart shattering into a million tiny fragments. "I'm sorry," he blurted out. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Riku was silent for a moment. "I asked you to move in with me after college and you panicked and ran away. It's no big deal."

"That's not it!" Sora yelled. "I do want to move in with you! I do! I really, really do! And I want us to get married and have kids and a yard and a dog! I want us to grow old together! I-I want… I… I love you!" He sobbed and closed his eyes, afraid to see Riku's reaction to his exclamation. He heard Riku give a heavy sigh and then footsteps before a familiar warmth enveloped him. He opened his eyes to find himself staring at Riku's chest with strong arms wrapped securely around him.

"I love you too," Riku said softly, kissing the top of his head.

* * *

Yuffie blinked in surprise when Tseng sat down beside her and let out a dreamy sigh. She scooted a few inches away from him, figuring that he was about to lecture her or something. She fidgeted after a few minutes of silence and let her curiosity get the best of her.

"Sooo," she drawled. "What's up?"

Tseng let out another dreamy sigh. "She's so beautiful," he murmured.

"Who?" Yuffie asked.

"Her name's Elena," Tseng said in a wistful tone. "She's so beautiful."

Yuffie stifled her laughter with her hand. "Oh, really?" she asked, unable to keep her mirth out of her voice. To hear Tseng--serious, never crack a joke, Tseng--talk about someone in such a way was almost too much for her.

"Yeah…"

Yuffie couldn't help but snicker, not too worried about Tseng taking offense. He was far too out of it to pay attention to anything she did. In fact, if she were to ask for a break at that very moment, she felt sure he'd give her permission. Hell, she could probably ask for a week of vacation so she could take Kairi out to the beach and he'd probably say yes.

'_Hmmm… now there's an idea. A nice, weeklong vacation at the beach with Kairi. That means I'll get to see her in that cute pink bikini at last!' _A grin slowly spread across Yuffie's face as she thought about how wonderful a vacation would be.

And then there were two of them sitting at the table with dreamy expression's on their faces. But then Yuffie heard Tseng sigh and say, "We'd have such beautiful children…" and she erupted into laughter and ended up falling out of her chair to roll around on the floor with tears streaming down her face.

Tseng didn't as much as move.

* * *

'_Selphie thinks she can cut __**me **__out of her plans, does she?' _Marluxia thought as he snuck into Abercrombie and Fitch. _'We'll see about that. I know all of her plans and I can change things so that none of them work. Which means __**my **__plans will be the ones that work and I'll prove once and for all that I am the King of Matchmaking!' _He resisted the urge to laugh maniacally and instead ducked behind a rack of clothes.

His prey was in sight at last, standing unaware just a few feet away. He crept a little closer to the sulking brunet, every of his senses on high alert. All that was left was to gather the final player for Operation: Wolf and Lion and he'd be set. So… where was that chocobo-haired blond?

Marluxia's eyes gleamed when he spotted the other half of the soon-to-be happy couple. All he had to do was wait for him to get just a little bit closer and…

_Bump! _

He stifled his laughter as he finally got the opportunity to shove Squall into Cloud and watched as they both fell to the ground with Squall pinning Cloud down. He quickly ducked into the clothing rack and watched in anticipation to see what would happen next.

Squall groaned and planted his hands on the ground to try and push himself up. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened. One minute he was standing up pondering whether he wanted Seifer or Cloud, and the next minute he found himself shoved from behind right into one of the objects of his quandary. And then the shove ended with him sprawled on top of Cloud on the ground and he knew then and there that he was screwed.

Cloud smirked, his ethereal blue eyes glinting in pleasure. "Well, hello there, my feisty lion. Fancy seeing you here."

'_Well… I guess Sora apologized,'_ Squall thought, right before Cloud reached up and gave his ass a squeeze. Then all of his thoughts turned to babbling gook and he felt his face heat up in embarrassment. He couldn't help but lower his head to allow his bangs to cover his eyes.

Cloud chuckled and brushed them out of the way before he finally sat up and kissed the brunet full on the lips.

Marluxia slowly backed out of the store when he saw that Squall was reciprocating and was even moving his arms to loosely wrap them around Cloud's waist.

'_Operation: Wolf and Lion is a success! Onto Operation: Chocobo Hunt!'_

_

* * *

_

It had been days since Irvine last saw the beautiful brunette of his dreams. That, of course, meant that he had been bored out of his skull that entire time. Sure, Kairi and Fuu were plotting something that had to do with their friends, but he honestly didn't want to get involved in that mess. It sounded like too much of a hassle to him.

Irvine grumbled to himself and kicked at the slushy machine to make it churn the ice properly. He swore it was out to get him. It had to be! Why else did it refuse to work properly the second he started working there? There was no other explanation.

"Wark?"

Irvine froze. He knew that sound. It was the sound that invaded his dreams and changed them into horrific feathery nightmares. Slowly he turned around and came face to face with the white and black chocobo with violet eyes that tormented him so thoroughly days ago. The large bird clacked its beak and looked at him curiously as it shuffled a bit closer.

"Shoo," Irvine said. "Go away."

"Wark!" The chocobo got a little closer reached out for Irvine's hat.

"N-no! Bad!" Irvine shouted, waving his arms to try and get the bird to back off.

The movement seemed to only entice the bird closer as it finally got close enough to close its beak on his cowboy hat and pull it off of his head. Irvine whimpered as the bird happily pranced a few feet away, hat held proudly in its black beak.

"Oblivion! There you are!"

Irvine whipped his head around in time to see the copper brown-haired angel of his dreams running towards him in a yellow jumper. The chocobo gave a loud cry and pranced from side to side, unsure of what to do. It recognized that girl. She was the one who captured him the last time he managed to escape.

"C'mere, Oblivion. I've got some Gyshal Greens for you!" she cajoled, holding up a bag of the green treats.

Oblivion tilted his head to the side and took a set closer, cowboy hat still tightly trapped in his beak. The greens were too much for it to resist. It took another step and then another until it was near enough to reach out and pluck the leafy greens from the girl's hands. Before he could do anything, the girl reached out and closed one hand around his halter and removed the cowboy hat from his beak and plopped it on her head with a giggle. Then she gave Oblivion one of the treats.

'_Wow,' _Irvine thought, watching her gently tug the chocobo away. Then it clicked in his head that she was leaving _and _had his hat and he leapt over the counter to go chasing after her.

Oblivion _warked!_ and pranced to the side when Irvine got too close and the girl turned around to see what the problem was.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, pulling the chocobo to a stop and giving him another treat to calm down. "This must be yours," she said, pointing to the hat. "I'm sorry that Oblivion took it. He has this really weird obsession with hats. Just last week I found him running around carrying a beanie."

"He also likes my hair," Irvine said, directing a glare at the dark-feathered bird.

She giggled. "I can see why. I'm Selphie, by the way."

"Irvine," he said, giving a low, sweeping bow.

Selphie giggled for a second time. "Hey, how about you come with me and I'll get you a few greens so that if he gets out again he might not cause so much trouble?"

For a moment, Irvine thought his heart was about to go shooting out of his chest, it was beating so hard. He collected himself enough to nod and was rewarded with one of her bright smiles that sent his heart into spasms.

For once, it was a good day in the life of Irvine Kinneas. A _very _good day.

* * *

Lunchtime found Reeve sobbing uncontrollably in happiness while Cissnei, the head honcho over at Abercrombie and Fitch, stood by and watched with a smirk on her face.

Reno was at last back over in his rightful place at Moogle Garden, a fact that not only had Reeve dissolved into hysterics, but also had Demyx dancing and prancing around in glee. Even Zack was happy to be going back to Abercrombie and Fitch. He was celebrating by stripping in the middle of the walkway.

Cissnei rolled her eyes, unable to keep a smile off her face as she watched her favorite employee attract a huge crowd of people. "Okay, Zack! Take it back to the store and stop causing a traffic jam in the middle of the hallway!"

Zack winked at her and pulled his button-up shirt back on, but didn't bother buttoning it back up. He happily skipped back down the hall to the store he fit in best at and bounded through the doors with a joyous cry of, "I'm baaaaack!"

Inside, Cloud slowly backed away, hoping that his friend wouldn't run over and glomp him like he was always so fond of doing. Things were going along perfectly with Squall so far and he didn't want anything to mess up his chances.

"Cloud!"

Cloud cursed under his breath when Zack's bright violet eyes turned in his direction. There was no escape!

Before Zack could take a running leap towards him, Squall slinked out of the many racks and piles of clothes and wrapped his arms possessively around Cloud before kissing him on the cheek. Cloud's eyes lit up and he promptly dragged Squall away for a make-out session in the back room, leaving behind a confused Zack to stand there all alone.

"Excuse me?"

Zack turned his head to see a stern-looking blonde woman wearing an orange dress. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"I'm looking for Seifer," she said. "We're supposed to go eat lunch together today."

"He's around here somewhere," Zack said, looking around to see if he could spot the tall man. "Don't know how I can never find him… maybe he's in the back?" He shook his head and looked back at the woman. "I'm Zack, by the way."

"Quistis," she said. "If you don't mind, could you go get him? I don't have very much time before I have to get back to work."

Zack nodded and set off to find his tall blond co-worker, wondering what the woman was to him. Maybe she was his sister. They did look a little alike, with their blond hair and light-colored eyes.

He found Seifer stooped behind the counter trying to pick up some change he knocked on the ground.

"There's a Quistis here looking for you," Zack off-handedly told him. "Is she your sister or something?"

"She's here already?" Seifer questioned, standing up and brushing off his pants. "Damn, I should have known she'd be early. And she's not my sister; she's my girlfriend."

Zack froze in place while Seifer gathered his wallet and then left, most likely to throw out an apology to Quistis for being what she considers late before she proves to him that he was, in fact, late.

'_Since when does __**Seifer**__ have a girlfriend?'_

_

* * *

_

"Axel!" Kairi yelled as she stomped into Spencer's. She found the redhead standing at the counter talking to Roxas, who was sitting on the counter, while Sora happily puttered around the shelves most likely looking for something interesting to show Riku.

"Axel!" she repeated to get his attention. She got it, along with a pout from Roxas as his newly discovered flirting technique was foiled. "I have to talk to you about something! _Now!_"

Axel sighed. "Yeah, what is it?"

Kairi approached the counter and smacked her hands down onto it, disappointed with the lack of a loud noise. "Why did you sell that…that _thing _to Yuffie? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking she'd look hot in it," Axel said, shrugging. "Come to think of it…" He glanced at Roxas, who crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his bright blue eyes.

"Don't even _think _about it," he warned.

Axel chuckled and ruffled Roxas's hair before he looked back at Kairi. "What's the problem? I figured you would like it. It was one of the few things she and I could both agree on."

"Hey, do you think I should get this for Riku?" Sora asked.

"Is it from the back?" Axel asked, not bothering to look over to see what it was.

Sora was silent for a moment. "Yeah…"

"Then no," Axel told him. "Not unless you want to give the little prude a heart attack."

There was a sigh from Sora before he vanished back into the shelves to put back whatever it was that he found.

"Can you focus on the conversation for more than five seconds?" Kairi asked crossly.

"Okay, so what's the problem?" Axel asked. "Do you not like it?"

A light blush spread across Kairi's cheeks. "T-that's not the point! The point is that she looks like a- a-"

"Wutaian whore?" Sora filled in, popping in out of nowhere with a different box. "What about this one, Axel?"

Axel looked down at the box and then shook his head. "No. Try the green one."

Sora beamed and bounded away to hunt down the green box.

"You know, she's supposed to look like a Wutaian whore in it," Axel pointed out to Kairi. "A very high-class one. And she got one of the better ones, if I may say so. The others ones are worse. Go look for yourself if you don't believe me!"

Sora bounded back to the counter, green box in hand. "Hey, at least you can get Yuffie to dress up for you. I tried to get Riku to dress up for me once. He blushed and wouldn't leave the bathroom for an hour."

Kairi tried her best not to imagine what Sora's mind could have possibly come up with for Riku to wear. Despite the fact that Riku was actually quite shy about anything even remotely sexual, he was quite proud of his body and enjoyed showing it off whenever they went to the beach. For him to be embarrassed enough to not want to wear something meant that it had to have been pretty bad.

"Okay, fine. Just don't sell her anything else like that, okay?" Kairi asked. "Or at least _warn _me next time!"

Axel gave her a quick salute and then looked back to Roxas, who had popped a piece of gum into his mouth and was seeing how big of a bubble he could blow. Axel smirked and swooped in, unable to resist the opportunity to steal Roxas's gum.

Kairi rolled her eyes as Sora exclaimed "eeeewww!" and then ran to the front to avoid getting something thrown at him and to show Riku the box.

"Hey! Hey, Riku! Check out what I found!"

Kairi was never going back into that store if she could help it. Even if Yuffie did look really good in the Wutaian cosplay.

* * *

Lunchtime was always an exciting time at the mall, but on that particular day it was more exciting than usual. A wave of unusual events had struck across stores all over the mall, resulting in some strange new relationships--romantic and friendship-wise. And behind all of it was a pink-haired being known as Marluxia.

Shoving Squall onto Cloud had been both simple and ingenious, but bribing the chocobo handler to turn that one black and white chocobo loose was even better. He knew exactly where the chocobo would go and who would be the one to chase after it. And lo and behold he found the perfect distraction to keep his beloved sister busy for the rest of the day.

He only had three potential couples left and a short amount of time to accomplish his goals in. He knew he had to act fast or else his plan would fall completely apart.

Eyes gleaming in anticipation, he headed off towards Moogle Garden.

* * *

Aerith sighed as Zack banged on the door to the freezer at Moogle Garden, yelling for someone to open the door and let them out. She had a feeling that she knew who was behind the sneak attack, and for once it wasn't Selphie or Yuffie. She saw that flash of pink as she was shoved past a bewildered Demyx and she knew that she and Zack would be in there for quite a while. Or at least until Reeve found out.

"Zack, sit down," she implored. "Yelling isn't going to get us out of here any faster and you'll hurt yourself if you keep at it."

Zack pounded on the door one last time before he let his hands fall limply to his sides. "Why does this stuff always happen?"

Aerith took a seat on one of the boxes and daintily crossed her ankles. "It's so effective that people take advantage of it. Marluxia is no exception, even if he does pride himself on being original and creative. Although… a freezer is a bit different than the usual closet."

"What does he expect to happen?" Zack asked bitterly, glaring at the locked door. "Does he think we'll magically fall in love just because we're locked in together?"

"No," Aerith said, shaking her head. "But it does give us the chance to talk. We haven't done that for quite a while. Come sit down, Zack."

Zack sighed and backed away from the door to take a seat beside Aerith and cradle his head in his hands. "Things have been so damn weird lately."

"Yes, but they're beginning to go back to normal," Aerith said. "Things are starting to settle down into a normal routine at last. Soon things will be peaceful and boring, with the occasional odd moment to stir things up."

"Things will never be normal again," Zack said miserably. "Cloud's with Squall now. He won't keep molesting random people or tolerate me trying to hit on him anymore. It's completely different. And Seifer has a girlfriend. _Seifer! _Do you have _any _idea how weird that is?"

"Not as weird as Genesis reading shoujo manga," Aerith remarked.

Zack blinked in surprise and looked over at her. "He reads what? But wait a second! I thought he was always reading that one play? What was it…? LOVELESS?"

Aerith giggled. "It's actually a manga called 'Loveless'. He uses the cover of the play to hide the fact that he's reading one of Kairi's books."

Zack chuckled, pleased to have something to use against Genesis for once. Now if he could only find something to use against Sephiroth. He could never get Angeal to tell him anything…

"What about Sephiroth?" he asked. "Got anything on him?"

Aerith smiled mischievously, the gears in her brain turning. "I'll tell you on one condition," she said.

"Name it," Zack said eagerly, figuring that whatever the condition was it wouldn't be too bad.

"You go on one date with me," Aerith said. "An activity and a meal, you pick what we do."

Zack was silent for a moment. She wanted to go on a date in exchange for blackmail? A date with _him_? Why on earth would she want to go on a date with him? Didn't she like Sephiroth? A date? _Seriously?_

"Well?" she asked, twirling a strand of hair around a finger. "How about it? A date with me wouldn't really be so horrible, would it?"

"N-no. I mean, yes. I mean--" Zack cut himself off and started over. "I'd love to go on a date with you."

Aerith smiled. "Alright. How about tomorrow when we both get off work? Would that be okay with you?"

Zack nodded, his mind racing for an explanation as to why she actually wanted to go on a date with him. "Yeah. It's fine. It's perfect. I'll- uh, see you then? I'll, um, drop by Game Stop and pick you up?"

"Sounds perfect."

The two sat in awkward silence for a moment, unsure of what else they could say.

"So, uh, how about that local sports team?" Zack tried weakly.

Aerith couldn't help but laugh at the attempted ice breaker. There were some awkward moments that were just best left alone.

* * *

Outside in the food court near Moogle Garden more chaos was unfolding, courtesy of Marluxia. First, Genesis and Sephiroth were left alone to eat lunch together and ended up arguing loudly over something pointless and inane. Then Elena _somehow _fell on Tseng, nearly sending the man into a panic attack of happiness, when _someone _pushed her. Tseng was currently trailing after her like a lost puppy. (Elena actually kind of liked the attention, not that she'd ever admit it to anyone.) And finally, someone got Fuu and Rikku's lunch schedules all jumbled up so that the two ended up bumping into each other for the very first time when they got in line at Moogle Garden.

Marluxia could have laughed maniacally at the slight blush that spread across Fuu's face, but he was disguised as a plant and plants don't laugh. He wasn't about to break his cover! Even if Larxene _was _right behind him laughing uproariously.

All in all, he felt it was a good day of work.

Things only got better when Naminé and her boyfriend Rufus came in for lunch and to visit everyone. Despite Demyx bungling things up and knocking over their drinks and spilling some on their clean white clothes, Rufus still managed to look very calm and collected when he got down on one knee to propose to Naminé.

Marluxia even broke his cover to cheer with everyone else when Naminé said 'yes'.

It was, in fact, a very, _very _good day.

* * *

THE END

* * *

This is the very last chapter of Mall Duty 2. I wish I could say that it's the last Mall Duty related fanfiction I will write, but I know that a month or so after this I'll have an idea for a MD-universe one-shot.

The fact that it was so hard for me to finish this kind of makes me wish I had just stopped with the first Mall Duty, but this chapter makes me happy that I wrote this. I _love_ this chapter. Sure, there are parts of it I want to rip up into a million pieces and dance in the carnage, but overall I'm really happy with it.

That wasn't even my original ending. I did want to have Rufus proposing to Naminé in there somewhere, but my original ending was Selphie and Marluxia leaving the mall in their car with Marly proving that he is the true King of Matchmaking.

Anyway, that's it for Mall Duty. Now I can focus on For Love and a multitude of other things I'm currently working on. Which reminds me... I need to create a new poll. Axel and Roxas won the last one, so I suppose I should figure out a cute one-shot for them as a reward.

Where are those AkuRoku plot bunnies when I need them?


End file.
